NO BLUE-LIGHT SPECIALS

The state has collected more than $1,000 in extra fees since May 1, when it started getting tough on "blue-lighters" - drivers who go through the Fastoll lanes of the Coleman Bridge without having tolls deducted from prepaid accounts.

Most blue-lighters, said Jodey Dorety, manager of the Fastoll Customer Service Center at Gloucester Point, are people who have not installed their transponders as required or who have let their accounts run dry.

They have to pay the full fare in cash - not the commuter discount rate. Bluelighters in their cars, for example, have to fork over $2 instead of having 50 cents deducted from their accounts.

Soon the state will get even tougher.

The extra fees collected so far have come from people who turned themselves in. They went to the customer service center to straighten out their accounts after they triggered the blue light at the toll plaza and saw the message "TOLL NOT PAID."

Jeanne L. Burns of Gwynn's Island turned herself in on Tuesday, paying $2 without complaint even though she had her Fastoll transponder in her hand. She and her granddaughter, Valerie Allison of Gloucester, had forgotten to put Burns' exterior-mount transponder on their van before driving through a Fastoll lane.

Allison held the transponder up so the account number could be read, but that didn't work. Blue light. TOLL NOT PAID.

"I didn't want to get by with anything," Burns explained after paying the non-commuter rate.

People who have continued to drive through without paying will be getting greetings from the state.

"Those who think they have gotten away with it are fooling themselves," Dorety said. Cameras at the toll plaza have been photographing vehicles and license plates. A database is being compiled. Letters will go out, requesting payment.

The penalty for ignoring the letters has not been determined. But, said Coleman Bridge toll accountant Anita Morris, "if our patrons are anticipating a tax refund, the toll could be deducted."

About 150 repeat violators have been identified, she said.

An improvement to the system should help some of the more honest blue-lighters, like Burns. Her van has a windshield that does not allow an inside transponder to be read. But a transponder on the outside might be stolen, so she has to remember each time to put the device on an exterior windshield mount before crossing the bridge on Route 17 northbound. No toll is collected in the southbound lanes.

A new bumper-mount system will be more secure and Burns' transponder can be left there.

Most transponders must be mounted inside, behind the rearview mirror. No more holding them out the window and expecting to get a 50-cent ride.

If you make a mistake and mount the transponder upside-down, so it can't be read: two bucks.

Whatever you do, Morris said, don't stop at the blue light to try to avoid a violation, or because you realize you don't belong in a Fastoll lane.

That could cause a collision. Continue through and explain at the customer service center.

Just Tuesday, Morris said, probably a dozen people stopped in the Fastoll lanes, then backed out to go through a lane with an attendant.

"It's enough to cause your heart to stop," she said. "It's scary."

Soon, VDOT will have an improved advance warning to drivers. Borrowing an idea from comic David Letterman, who joked about a similar prepaid toll system in New York, the Fastoll lanes won't be marked only with "Prepaid Accounts" signs.

Fastoll is an automated toll-payment system. The two left lanes at the Coleman Bridge toll plaza are Fastoll only; you need to have a prepaid account to use them.

* The toll is deducted from your account by means of a "transponder," a small device that must be mounted on your vehicle.

* Two-axle vehicles can get a discounted, commuter rate with a Fastoll account. The toll is 50 cents, compared to $2 for non-commuters.

* You can get more than one transponder for each account, so devices can be mounted on all a household's vehicles.

* Do not stop for the Fastoll light. Traffic should maintain a steady speed of 35 mph or less. If a blue light indicates a toll violation, go to the Fastoll Customer Service Center in Gloucester Point Shopping Center.

* Don't tailgate. Maintain enough distance between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you so two separate accounts are charged. If you follow too closely, the axle-counter might charge your account the four-axle fee, $4. Look at the light signal to assess the proper distance. A light goes on when a transponder is read, then goes off. Green indicates accounts containing more than $4 per transponder; yellow shows accounts with $4 or less.